Communication System Having Cross Polarization Interference Cancellation (XPIC)

ABSTRACT

An all outdoor unit communication system, for performing cross polarization interference cancellation, is provided. The system includes a first outdoor unit (ODU) configured to receive a first directionally polarized signal, a first RF module configured to convert the first directionally polarized signal into a first in-phase (I) component and a first quadrature (Q) component, and a first modem configured to up-convert the first I and Q components from baseband into a first directionally polarized intermediate frequency (IF) signal. The system being configured to communicate, via an interconnect coupled to the first ODU, a second directionally polarized IF signal to the first ODU, and where the first modem is further configured to utilize the second directionally polarized IF signal to cancel out at least a portion of a first cross-polarization leakage at the first ODU.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/853,672, filed Mar. 29, 2013, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/753,352, filed on Jan. 16,2013, which are both incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure generally relates to point-to-point (PtP) wireless links,and more specifically to an outdoor unit (ODU) configurationincorporating a cross connect architecture.

2. Related Art

Conventional microwave backhaul architectures are generally implementedas either a split outdoor unit (split ODU) configuration or an alloutdoor unit (all ODU) configuration. Conventional split ODUconfigurations are generally comprised of both an indoor unit (IDU) andan outdoor unit (ODU), where the IDU and the ODU are connected over acoaxial interconnect. The IDU in a conventional split ODU configurationtypically includes a modem, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and abaseband-to-intermediate frequency converter. Under normal operation,these conventional split ODU configurations generally involvetransmitting an analog signal, at an intermediate frequency (IF), overthe coaxial interconnect between the IDU and the ODU.

In some instances, all ODU configurations have been used as analternative to these conventional split ODU configurations. Conventionalall ODU configurations include only an ODU, and thus do not include anIDU. The ODU therefore includes a modern, a DAC as well as abaseband-to-radio frequency converter.

All ODU configurations are generally implemented having either asuperheterodyne architecture or a direct conversion architecture. Thesuperheterodyne architecture, which has been a popular all ODUarchitecture in the area of mobile backhaul networking, typicallyutilizes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to sample a full signalbandwidth of interest. In particular, a series of passive and activecomponents including transformers, mixers, amplifiers, attenuators, andactive and passive filters are needed to down-convert the carrier radiofrequency (RF) to either a low or high intermediate frequency (IF) forsampling, while also maintaining signal integrity. Conversely, with adirect conversion architecture, rather than using a single ADC to samplean IF signal, the carrier frequency is directly converted to twobaseband signals, I and Q, which are then sampled by one or more ADCs.

Traditionally, the majority of consumer demand in the area of mobilebackhaul networking has been directed to voice services. However,recently the market for mobile backhaul services has begun to change. Inparticular, the mobile backhaul space is experiencing a growing demandfor increased capacity as well as a shift from voice services to dataservices. These factors are driving mobile backhaul networks towardshigh capacity Internet Protocol (IP)/Ethernet connections.

Similarly, mobile backhaul networking is experiencing a transition tofourth generation (4G) standard and Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks.This transition is also driving the need for higher capacity, and ismoving more packet traffic onto mobile backhaul networks. It is becauseof this transition that the mobile backhaul space has begun to shiftaway from superheterodyne architectures and towards direct conversionarchitectures, which generally provide decreased power consumption,smaller size, and a lower cost of production.

Additionally, in an effort to meet the growing demand for increasedcapacity, mobile backhaul networks have begun to implement systems thatcan handle higher capacity communications. For example, some mobilebackhaul networks have begun to utilize spatial multiplexing, and/ormultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques. However, these highcapacity communication techniques generally require the use of multipleall ODU receivers. However, this approach can cause various I/Qmismatches, which may include, but are not limited, to phase and gainI/Q mismatch, group delays between the I and Q signals, and frequencyselect mismatches. Each of these I/Q mismatches can result in noisefloors, which may prevent the all ODU receivers from operating at a highquadrature amplitude modulation (QAM).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

Embodiments of the disclosure are described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicateidentical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left mostdigit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which thereference number first appears.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an all ODU microwave backhaulsystem according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an ODU having a direct conversionarchitecture according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a dual channel all ODU microwavebackhaul system according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a first pair of ODUs, each havinga direct conversion architecture, configured to perform crosspolarization interference cancellation (XPIC) according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a second pair of ODUs, each havinga direct conversion architecture, configured to perform crosspolarization interference cancellation (XPIC) according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a dual channel/dual antenna allODU microwave backhaul system according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a pair of ODUs, each having adirect conversion architecture, configured to perform XPIC and toutilize a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) arrangementaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of exemplary operational steps of optimizingcommunication within a high capacity all ODU microwave backhaul system,having a direct conversion architecture, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the disclosure will now be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbersgenerally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurallysimilar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears isindicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the reference number

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The following Detailed Description refers to accompanying drawings toillustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with the disclosure.References in the Detailed Description to “one exemplary embodiment,”“an exemplary embodiment,” “an example exemplary embodiment,” etc.,indicate that the exemplary embodiment described can include aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplaryembodiment can not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same exemplary embodiment. Further, when a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anexemplary embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in therelevant art(s) to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic inconnection with other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed.

An Exemplary all ODU Microwave Backhaul System

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an all outdoor unit (ODU)microwave backhaul system 100 that includes an ODU 102 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Microwavecommunications, as used throughout this disclosure, refers to bothterrestrial point-to-point (PtP) radio communications, as well aspoint-to-multipoint communications, and can include both wired and/orwireless communications.

All ODU microwave backhaul system 100 initiates communication byaccessing an information source. To facilitate this communication in allODU microwave backhaul system 100, ODU 102 is coupled to the corenetwork (not shown in FIG. 1). Therefore, ODU 102 is configured toacquire one or more sequences of digital data (e.g., audio data, videodata, data transmitted over IP/Ethernet connection, or the like)directly from the core network. ODU 102 can be configured to supportseveral additional services, such as Ethernet, time-divisionmultiplexing (TDM), and control data that is aggregated over a radiolink.

In some embodiments, ODU 102 can be implemented at a substantiallyelevated location, such as on top of a pole, on top of an antenna tower,on top of a building, or the like. Additionally, an antenna 104 can becommunicatively coupled to ODU 102, and can be positioned substantiallyclose to ODU 102. Therefore, all ODU microwave backhaul system 100 maybe implemented such that data 106 can be transmitted from ODU 102 toantenna 104, where communication over a wireless link can then beinitiated. Also, all ODU microwave backhaul system 100 is implementedsuch that data 106 received over the wireless link by antenna 104 can betransmitted to ODU 102.

Although the description of the all ODU configurations are to bedescribed in terms of microwave backhaul architecture, those skilled inthe relevant art(s) will recognize that the present disclosure can beapplicable to other architectures without departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure.

An Exemplary ODU Having a Direct Conversion Architecture

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an ODU 200 having a directconversion architecture according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure. ODU 200 can represent an exemplary embodiment of ODU102 of FIG. 1.

As discussed above, a direct conversion architecture is characterized bythe fact that a carrier frequency is directly converted to two basebandsignals, I and Q, which are then sampled by one or more ADCs. This is incontrast to a conventional superheterodyne architecture, which typicallyutilizes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to sample a full signalbandwidth of interest, and thus utilizes a series of passive and activecomponents including transformers, mixers, amplifiers, attenuators, andactive and passive filters to down-convert the carrier radio frequency(RF) to either a low or high intermediate frequency (IF) for sampling.

ODU 200 includes a modem 202, an RF transmission block (Tx) 204, an RFreception block (Rx) 206, and a diplexer 208. Further, ODU 200 may becommunicatively coupled to an antenna 210.

In some embodiments, modern 202 may be implemented as a point-to-point(PtP) high-end modem having a networking integrated circuit (IC). Modem202 may also include a first convergence layer 212 and a secondconvergence layer 214. Each convergence layer 212 and 214 may refer to atop portion of a protocol that functions to format data originating inhigher layers for processing by the lower layers. Specifically,convergence layers 212 and 214 may be configured to add a header or wrapdata in a header and trailer that contain information necessary toprovide the necessary services. For example, error control and/orpriority information may be added by convergence layers 212 and 214.Additionally, convergence layer 212 may be associated with a master chip216 and a slave chip 218. Further, convergence layer 212 may also beassociated with a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 220 and multipleanalog-to-digital converters (ADCs) 222 and 224. Similarly, convergencelayer 214 may be associated with a master chip 226 and a slave chip 228,and may also be associated with a DAC 230 and multiple ADCs 232 and 234.

During operation, ODU 200 may receive a signal over a wireless link viaantenna 210. In some embodiments, the received signal may be an RFsignal, and may have a frequency in the range of approximately 6 GHz toapproximately 43 GHz. The received signal may then be input intodiplexer 208, which may then output the received signal to Rx 206,without causing any interference with a transmission signal received atdiplexer 208 from Tx 204. In particular, diplexer 208 may be configuredto allow both Tx 204 and Rx 206 to share a common wireless link. Rx 206may be configured to directly convert the received RF signal to twobaseband signals, I and Q. The I and Q signals may then be input to ADC222, where the I and Q signals are sampled and converted from the analogdomain to the digital domain. Modem 202 may be configured to performvarious digital processing techniques on the received I and Q signals.For example, modem 202 may be configured to digitally filter thereceived I and Q signals, to perform adaptive digital pre-distortiontechniques, to correct noise and/or errors in the received I and Qsignals, or the like. Modem 202 may then output the digitally processedI and Q signals to the core network.

An Exemplary Dual Channel all ODU Microwave Backhaul System

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a dual channel all ODU microwavebackhaul system 300 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As discussed above, in an effort to meet the growing demandfor increased capacity, mobile backhaul networks have begun to implementsystems that can handle double capacity communications. Accordingly,dual channel all ODU microwave backhaul system 300 represents a doublecapacity system that supports a full cross polarization interferencecancellation (XPIC) configuration.

Similar to all ODU microwave backhaul system 100 (shown in FIG. 1), dualchannel all ODU microwave backhaul system 300 initiates communication byaccessing an information source. To facilitate this communication insystem 300, ODU 302 is coupled to the core network (not shown in FIG.3). ODU 302 may also be implemented as a direct conversion ODU.Therefore, ODU 302 may be configured to acquire one or more sequences ofdigital data (e.g., audio data, video data, data transmitted overIP/Ethernet connection, or the like) directly from the core network. ODU302 can be configured to support several additional services, such asEthernet, time-division multiplexing (TDM), and control data that isaggregated over a radio link.

Dual channel all ODU microwave backhaul system 300's full XPICconfiguration can allow system 300 to have approximately double thecapacity of a single channel configuration. In particular, in additionalto ODU 302, dual channel all ODU microwave backhaul system 300 includesa second ODU 304. ODUs 302 and 304 are each communicatively coupled toan antenna 308. ODUs 302 and 304 are configured to facilitate thecommunication of two parallel communication channels over the samewireless link, where each of the two communication channel haveorthogonal polarizations (e.g. horizontal and vertical). Additionally,or alternatively, ODU 304 may be coupled to the core network as well.

During operation, dual channel all ODU microwave backhaul system 300 mayreceive a signal having two orthogonal polarizations (e.g. horizontal310 and vertical 312) at antenna 308. Horizontally polarized signal 310may then be transmitted to ODU 302, while vertically polarized signal312 may be transmitted to ODU 304. Additionally, horizontally polarizedsignal 310 and vertically polarized signal 312 may then be respectivelyprocessed by ODUs 302 and 304, as will be discussed in greater detailbelow.

However, although ODU 302 may be configured to receive and processhorizontally polarized signal 310, a portion of vertically polarizedsignal 312 may leak into the actual signal received at ODU 302.Similarly, a portion of horizontally polarized signal 310 may leak intothe actual signal received at ODU 304. These leakages may becollectively referred to as cross-polarization leakage herein. Each ofthese leakages may result in noise and/or errors being injected into thesignals received at ODUs 302 and 304. Accordingly, an interconnect 306may be implemented between ODUs 302 and 304 such that horizontallypolarized signal 310 received at ODU 302 can be shared with ODU 304, andsuch that vertically polarized signal 312 received at ODU 304 can beshared with ODU 302. By allowing these received signals to be sharedbetween ODUs 302 and 304, noise and/or errors that may be present withinthese signals can be substantially canceled out.

Interconnect 306 may be implemented using various different techniques.For example, interconnect 306 can comprise an Ethernet cable, a fiberoptic cable, a coaxial cable, an intermediate frequency (IF) cable, atwisted pair cable, a shielded cable, a category 5 cable, a category 6cable, or one or more copper wires.

An Exemplary Direct Conversion ODU Pair for Performing XPIC

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a first pair of ODUs 400 and 402,each having a direct conversion architecture, configured to performcross polarization interference cancellation (XPIC) according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. ODUs 400 and 402 canrepresent exemplary embodiments of ODUs 302 and 304 of FIG. 3,respectively. Individually, ODUs 400 and 402 can each function in asubstantially similar manner to ODU 200, which was discussed above withrespect to FIG. 2.

Specifically, ODU 400 includes a modem 404, an RF transmission block(Tx) 406, an RF reception block (Rx) 408, and a diplexer 410.Additionally, modem 404 includes an I/Q interface that is configured toexchange in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components between Tx 406 andRx 408. Further, ODU 400 may be communicatively coupled to an antenna412.

Similarly, ODU 402 includes a modern 438, an RF transmission block (Tx)440, an RF reception block (Rx) 442, and a diplexer 444. Further, ODU402 may be communicatively coupled to an antenna 446.

In some embodiments, modem 404 may be implemented as a point-to-point(PtP) high-end modem having a networking integrated circuit (IC). Modem404 may also include a first convergence layer 414 and a secondconvergence layer 416. Each convergence layer 414 and 416 may refer to atop portion of a protocol that functions to format data originating inhigher layers for processing by the lower layers. Specifically,convergence layers 414 and 416 may be configured to add a header or wrapdata in a header and trailer that contain information necessary toprovide the necessary services. For example, error control and/orpriority information may be added by convergence layers 414 and 416.Additionally, convergence layer 414 may be associated with a master chip418 and a slave chip 420. Further, convergence layer 414 may also beassociated with a DAC 422 and multiple ADCs 424 and 426. Similarly,convergence layer 416 may be associated with a master chip 428 and aslave chip 430, and may also be associated with a DAC 432 and multipleADCs 434 and 436.

Modem 438 may also be implemented as a point-to-point (PtP) high-endmodem having a networking IC. Modem 438 may include a first convergencelayer 448 and a second convergence layer 450. Each convergence layer 448and 450 may function in a substantially similar manner to first andsecond convergence layers 414 and 416 discussed above. Additionally,convergence layer 448 may be associated with a master chip 452 and aslave chip 454. Further, convergence layer 448 may also be associatedwith a DAC 456 and multiple ADCs 458 and 460. Similarly, convergencelayer 450 may be associated with a master chip 462 and a slave chip 464,and may also be associated with a DAC 466 and multiple ADCs 468 and 470.

During operation, ODU 400 may receive a signal over a wireless link viaantenna 412. In some embodiments, the signal received by ODU 400 may bea horizontally polarized signal. Additionally, the horizontallypolarized signal may be an RF signal, and may have a frequency in therange of approximately 6 GHz to approximately 43 GHz. The horizontallypolarized signal may be input into diplexer 410, which may then outputthe horizontally polarized signal to Rx 408, without causing anyinterference with a transmission signal received at diplexer 410 from Tx406. In particular, diplexer 410 may be configured to allow both Tx 406and Rx 408 to share a common wireless link. Rx 408 may be configured todirectly down-convert the horizontally polarized RF signal to twobaseband signals, I and Q. Although, the disclosure is not limited todirect conversion. The I and Q signals may then be input to ADC 424,where the I and Q signals are sampled and converted from the analogdomain to the digital domain. Modem 404 may be configured to performvarious digital processing techniques on the received I and Q signals.For example, modem 404 may be configured to digitally filter thereceived I and Q signals, to perform adaptive digital pre-distortiontechniques, to correct noise and/or errors in the received I and Qsignals, or the like. Modem 404 may then output the digitally processedI and Q signals to the core network.

In some embodiments, ODU 402 may operate in a substantially similarmanner to ODU 400. However, the signal received by ODU 402 may be avertically polarized RF signal having a frequency in the range ofapproximately 6 GHz to approximately 43 GHz. Therefore, duringoperation, the vertically polarized signal may be input into diplexer444, which may then output the vertically polarized signal to Rx 442without causing any interference with a transmission signal received atdiplexer 444 from Tx 440. Rx 442 may be configured to directlydown-convert the vertically polarized RF signal to two baseband signals,I and Q. Although, the disclosure is not limited to direct conversion.The I and Q signals may then be input to ADC 458, where the I and Qsignals are sampled and converted from the analog domain to the digitaldomain. Similar to modem 404, modern 438 may also be configured toperform various digital processing techniques on the received I and Qsignals. For example, modem 438 may also be configured to digitallyfilter the received I and Q signals, to perform adaptive digitalpre-distortion techniques, to correct noise and/or errors in thereceived I and Q signals, or the like. Modem 438 may also be configuredto output the digitally processed I and Q signals to the core network.

However, although ODU 400 may be configured to receive and process thehorizontally polarized signal, a portion of the vertically polarizedsignal may leak into the actual signal received at ODU 400. Similarly, aportion of the horizontally polarized signal may leak into the actualsignal received at ODU 402. Each of these leakages may result in noiseand/or errors being injected into the signals received at ODUs 400 and402. Accordingly, an interconnect 472 may be implemented between ODUs400 and 402 such that the horizontally polarized signal received at ODU400 can be shared with ODU 402, and such that the vertically polarizedsignal received at ODU 402 can be shared with ODU 400. By allowing thesereceived signals to be shared between ODUs 400 and 402, noise and/orerrors that may be present within these signals can be substantiallycanceled out. Interconnect 472 may be implemented using variousdifferent techniques. For example, interconnect 472 can comprise anEthernet cable, a fiber optic cable, a coaxial cable, a twisted paircable, a shielded cable, a category 5 cable, a category 6 cable, or oneor more copper wires.

In some embodiments, to cancel out the unwanted noise and/or errors ineach of the respective received signals, interconnect 472 may beconfigured to provide eight communication channels between ODUs 400 and402. For example, interconnect 472 may include four communicationchannels for transmitting signals from ODU 400 to ODU 402, and may alsoinclude two communication channels (but possibly four conductors) fortransmitting signals from ODU 402 to ODU 400. Specifically, the I signalgenerated by Rx 408 may include both an I+ signal and an I− signal(first channel), while the Q signal generated by Rx 408 may include a Q+signal, and a Q− signal (second channel). (Herein, first and seconddifferential signal components, or their corresponding conductors may bereferred to as a channel.) Collectively, the I+, I−, Q+, and Q− signalsrepresent the in-phase and quadrature components of the horizontallypolarized signal received at ODU 400. These four signals (I+, I−, Q+,and Q−) are then transmitted from ODU 400 to ODU 402 using four of theconductors included within interconnect 472. The I+, I−, Q+, and Q−signals are then input into ADC 460, where the signals are sampled andconverted from the analog domain to the digital domain. Modem 438 may beconfigured to utilize the necessary in-phase and quadrature componentsreceived from ODU 400 to cancel out the portion of the horizontallypolarized signal that may have leaked into the vertically polarizedsignal received at ODU 402. For example, if the vertically polarizedsignal received at ODU 402 were to include an unwanted portion of thehorizontally polarized signal, which may have both a positive in-phasecomponent and a positive quadrature component, then modem 438 may cancelout the unwanted portion of the horizontally polarized signal bycombining the I and Q signals received from Rx 442 with thecorresponding negative in-phase and quadrature components received fromODU 400 via interconnect 472.

Similarly, any portion of the vertically polarized signal that mayinadvertently leak into the horizontally polarized signal received atODU 400 may also be canceled out. Specifically, the I signal generatedby Rx 442 may also include both an I+ signal and an I− signal (3^(rd)channel), while the Q signal generated by Rx 442 may also include a Q+signal, and a Q− signal (fourth channel). Collectively, these I+, I−,Q+, and Q− signals generated by Rx 442 represent the in-phase andquadrature components of the vertically polarized signal received at ODU402. These four signals (I+, I−, Q+, and Q−) are then transmitted fromODU 402 to ODU 400 using the four remaining communication conductorsincluded within interconnect 472. The I+, I−, Q+, and Q− signals arethen input into ADC 426, where the signals are sampled and convertedfrom the analog domain to the digital domain. Similar to modem 438discussed above, modem 404 then utilizes the necessary in-phase andquadrature components received from ODU 402 to cancel out the portion ofthe vertically polarized signal that may have leaked into thehorizontally polarized signal received at ODU 400.

However, in some embodiments, sharing the I+, I−, Q+, and Q− signalsbetween ODUs 400 and 402 via interconnect 472 can result in various I/Qmismatches. For example, sharing each of these eight signals acrossinterconnect 472 can result in phase and gain I/Q mismatches. Phase andgain I/Q mismatches may cause insufficient attenuation in the imagefrequency band, which may lead to interference and degradation in theperformance of the receivers, and in the quality of the receivedsignals. In particular, phase and gain I/Q mismatches may occur if thephase between the I and Q components is not offset by exactly 90°, ormay occur if the amplitudes of the I and Q components are not exactlyequal. Additionally, sharing each of these eight signals acrossinterconnect 472 can result in group delays between the I and Qcomponents. In some embodiments, group delays can be caused whenfrequency selective components having different phase spectra are used.As another example, sharing each of the eight signals acrossinterconnect 472 can result in frequency select mismatches. Frequencyselect mismatches may occur when the signals communicated acrossinterconnect 472 occupy a wide frequency range. In such instances, arelatively good I/Q mismatch may be experienced as some frequencieswithin the frequency range, while a relatively bad I/Q mismatch may beexperienced at other frequencies within the frequency range. In anembodiment, the signals communicated across interconnect 472 may havefrequencies in the range of approximately 50 MHz to approximately 100MHz. Each of these potential I/Q mismatches may result in noise floors,which may prevent ODUs 400 and 402 from operating at a high quadratureamplitude modulation (QAM).

Further, interconnect 472, which may be in the range of approximately afew centimeters to approximately a few meters in length, may berelatively expensive to implement. Interconnect 472 may also need to beimplemented using precisely matched wires to facilitate the transmissionof each of the eight I and Q components between ODUs 400 and 402.Accordingly, each of these factors may need to be carefully consideredbefore implementing a double capacity microwave backhaul configurationwhere multiple I and Q components are shared between the ODUs.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a second pair of ODUs 500 and 502,each having a direct conversion architecture, configured to performcross polarization interference cancellation (XPIC) according to anexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. ODUs 500 and 502 canrepresent exemplary embodiments of ODUs 302 and 304 of FIG. 3,respectively.

ODU 500 includes a modem 504, an RF transmission block (Tx) 506, an RFreception block (Rx) 508, and a diplexer 510. Further, ODU 500 may becommunicatively coupled to an antenna 512.

Similarly, ODU 502 includes a modem 538, an RF transmission block (Tx)540, an RF reception block (Rx) 542, and a diplexer 544. Further, ODU502 may be communicatively coupled to an antenna 546.

Individually, ODUs 500 and 502 can each function in a substantiallysimilar manner to ODUs 400 and 402, which were discussed above withrespect to FIG. 4. Therefore, for illustrative purposes only, thedescription of the common elements between ODUs 500 and 502 and ODUs 400and 402, and the functionality thereof will be omitted.

During operation, ODU 500 may be configured to receive a signal over awireless link via antenna 412. In some embodiments, the signal receivedby ODU 500 may be a horizontally polarized signal. Conversely, ODU 502may be configured to receive a vertically polarized signal over thewireless link, via antenna 546. Each of the signals received at ODUs 500and 502 may be an RF signal, and may have a frequency in the range ofapproximately 6 GHz to approximately 43 GHz.

As discussed above, although ODU 500 may be configured to receive andprocess the horizontally polarized signal, a portion of the verticallypolarized signal may leak into the actual signal received at ODU 500.Similarly, a portion of the horizontally polarized signal may leak intothe actual signal received at ODU 502. Each of these leakages may resultin noise and/or errors being injected into the signals received at ODUs500 and 502. Accordingly, an interconnect 572 may be implemented betweenODUs 500 and 502 such that the horizontally polarized signal received atODU 500 can be shared with ODU 502, and such that the verticallypolarized signal received at ODU 502 can be shared with ODU 500. Byallowing these received signals to be shared between ODUs 500 and 502,noise and/or errors that may be present within these signals can besubstantially canceled out. Interconnect 572 may be implemented usingvarious different techniques. For example, interconnect 572 can comprisean Ethernet cable, a fiber optic cable, a coaxial cable, an intermediatefrequency (IF) cable, a twisted pair cable, a shielded cable, a category5 cable, a category 6 cable, or one or more copper wires.

In some embodiments, interconnect 572 may be configured to allow for thecommunication of IF signals between ODUs 500 and 502, as opposed tocommunicating I and Q components between the ODU pair (see FIG. 4). Inother words, the IF signals are carry the IQ information in a combinedmanner, as occurs before IQ mixer down-conversion, or after IQ mixerup-conversion. Thus, interconnect 572 may include only a pair of IFcommunication channels 574 and 576 (e.g. a two pair of wires, or a twocoax having a center pin and ground shielding). To facilitatecommunication of IF signals between ODUs 500 and 502, modem 504 may beconfigured to up-convert the I and Q signals received at ADC 524 frombaseband to IF. In an embodiment, the resulting IF signal produced bymodem 504 may have a frequency of approximately 350 MHz. The resultingIF signal may represent at least of portion of the horizontallypolarized signal received at ODU 500. Following the up-conversionprocess, the IF signal may be converted back from the digital domain tothe analog domain by DAC 532. In an embodiment, DAC 532 may be awide-band DAC. The IF signal (e.g. horizontally polarized IF signal) maythen be transmitted across IF communication channel 574 from DAC 532 toADC 568 where the IF signal is sampled and converted from the analogdomain back to the digital domain. In an embodiment, ADC 568 may be awide-band ADC. Modem 538 may be configured to utilize the IF signalreceived from ODU 500 to cancel out the portion of the horizontallypolarized signal that may have leaked into the vertically polarizedsignal received at ODU 502. Modem 538 may be configured to performvarious different error detection and error correction techniques tocancel out the portion of the horizontally polarized signal that mayhave leaked into the vertically polarized signal received at ODU 502. Insome embodiments, modem 538 may be configured to cancel out noise and/orerrors by implementing an adaptive error-cancellation (AEC) algorithm orby implementing various digital filtering techniques, to provide someexamples.

Similarly, a portion of the vertically polarized signal that mayinadvertently leak into the horizontally polarized signal received atODU 500 may also be canceled out. Specifically, modem 538 may beconfigured to up-convert the I and Q signals received at ADC 558 frombaseband to IF. In an embodiment, the resulting IF signal produced bymodem 538 may have a frequency of approximately 140 MHz, which isnotably different the IF frequency used by the modem 504 to communicatethe portion of the horizontal polarized signal to the modem 502. Theresulting IF signal may represent at least of portion of the verticallypolarized signal received at ODU 502. Following the up-conversionprocess, the IF signal may be converted back from the digital domain tothe analog domain by DAC 566. In an embodiment, DAC 566 may be awide-band DAC. The IF signal (e.g. vertically polarized IF signal) maythen be transmitted across IF communication channel 576 from DAC 566 toADC 534 where the IF signal is sampled and converted from the analogdomain back to the digital domain. In an embodiment, ADC 534 may be awide-band ADC. Modem 504 may be configured to utilize the IF signalreceived from ODU 502 to cancel out the portion of the verticallypolarized signal that may have leaked into the horizontally polarizedsignal received at ODU 500. Similar to modem 538, modem 504 may beconfigured to perform various different error detection and errorcorrection techniques to cancel out the portion of the verticallypolarized signal that may have leaked into the horizontally polarizedsignal received at ODU 500.

As discussed above, the two IF signals sent between modems 504 and 538have different IF frequencies (a first and a second IF frequency) thatenable a single pair of channels (e.g. two channels) to carry the two IFsignals, where one channel is used for each IF frequency. Theup-conversion to an IF negates the need to have separate channels foreach I and Q pair, since they are combined in their respective IFsignal, as discussed. Implementing interconnect 572 having two IFcommunication channels, rather than having four communication channels(that require eight conductors) for communicating I and Q differentialcomponents, substantially reduces or eliminates I/Q mismatches in doublecapacity microwave backhaul configurations. Therefore, implementinginterconnect 572 having two IF communication channels 574 and 576 cansubstantially eliminate noise floors, which may thus allow ODUs 500 and502 to operate at relatively high quadrature amplitude modulations(QAMs).

Alternatively, interconnect 572 may be implemented having only a singleIF cable, rather than two separate IF communication channels 574 and576. If interconnect 572 is implemented having only a single IF cable,then modems 504 and 538 may also be configured to filter out anddifferentiate between the IF signal transmitted from ODU 500 and the IFsignals transmitted from ODU 502. For example, modems 504 and 538 mayeach include one or more bandpass filters configured to filter out anddifferentiate between the two IF signals based on the respectivefrequencies (e.g. 140 MHz compared to 350 MHz). Accordingly, a singlecable (e.g. coax) or differential pair can simultaneously carry thehorizontal polarization information and the vertical polarizationinformation to their respective modems 538,504. Therefore, because ofthe reduced amount of wires, and communication channels associated withinterconnect 572, the relative costs of implementing and operatinginterconnect 572 can be substantially reduced.

An Exemplary Dual Channel/Dual Antenna all ODU Microwave Backhaul System

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of a dual channel/dual antenna allODU microwave backhaul system 600 according to an exemplary embodimentof the present disclosure. As discussed above, in an effort to meet thegrowing demand for increased capacity, mobile backhaul networks havebegun to implement systems that can handle higher capacitycommunications. Accordingly, dual channel/dual antenna all ODU microwavebackhaul system 600 represents a high capacity system that supports botha full cross polarization interference cancellation (XPIC) configurationas well as a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) arrangement.

Similar to dual channel all ODU microwave backhaul system 300 (shown inFIG. 3), dual channel/dual antenna all ODU microwave backhaul system 600initiates communication by accessing an information source. Tofacilitate this communication in system 600, ODU 602 is coupled to thecore network (not shown in FIG. 6). ODU 602 may be implemented as adirect conversion ODU. Therefore, ODU 602 may be configured to acquireone or more sequences of digital data (e.g., audio data, video data,data transmitted over IP/Ethernet connection, or the like) directly fromthe core network. ODU 602 can be configured to support severaladditional services, such as Ethernet, time-division multiplexing (TDM),and control data that is aggregated over a radio link.

Dual channel/dual antenna all ODU microwave backhaul system 600's fullXPIC configuration and MIMO arrangement can allow system 600 to have asignificantly higher capacity than a single channel configuration. Inparticular, in additional to ODU 602, dual channel/dual antenna all ODUmicrowave backhaul system 600 includes a second ODU 604. ODU 602 may becommunicatively coupled to a first antenna 608, and ODU 604 may becommunicatively coupled to a second antenna 614. ODUs 602 and 604 areeach configured to facilitate the communication of two parallelcommunication channels over the same wireless link, where each of thetwo communication channels have orthogonal polarizations (e.g.horizontal and vertical).

In some embodiments, dual channel/dual antenna all ODU microwavebackhaul system 600 may be implemented such that a first signal havingtwo orthogonal polarizations (e.g. horizontal 610 and vertical 616) isreceived at first antenna 608. Additionally, system 600 may beimplemented such that a second signal having two orthogonalpolarizations (e.g. horizontal 612 and vertical 618) is received atsecond antenna 614. The first received signal having both horizontalpolarization 610 and vertical polarization 616 may then be transmittedto ODU 602, while the second received signal having both horizontalpolarization 612 and vertical polarization 618 may be transmitted to ODU604. The first received signal, having horizontal polarization 610 andvertical polarization 616, and the second received signal, havinghorizontal polarization 612 and vertical polarization 618, may then berespectively processed by ODUs 602 and 604, as will be discussed ingreater detail below.

However, although ODU 602 may be configured to receive and process thefirst signal, a portion of the second signal may leak into the actualsignal received at ODU 602. Similarly, a portion of the first signal mayleak into the actual signal received at ODU 604. Each of these leakagesmay result in noise and/or errors being injected into the signalsreceived at ODUs 602 and 604. Accordingly, an interconnect 606 may beimplemented between ODUs 602 and 604 such that the first signal receivedat ODU 602 can be shared with ODU 604, and such that the second signalreceived at ODU 604 can be shared with ODU 602. By allowing thesereceived signals to be shared between ODUs 602 and 604, noise and/orerrors that may be present within these signals can be substantiallycanceled out.

Interconnect 606 may be implemented using various different techniques.For example, interconnect 606 can comprise an Ethernet cable, a fiberoptic cable, a coaxial cable, an intermediate frequency (IF) cable, atwisted pair cable, a shielded cable, a category 5 cable, a category 6cable, or one or more copper wires.

Further, because of the MIMO arrangement of dual channel/dual antennaall ODU microwave backhaul system 600, each of the ODUs may experienceinternal cross-polarization leakage as well. For example, horizontallypolarized signal 610 may leak into vertically polarized signal 616, andvice versa, even though both signals are received at the same ODU (e.g.ODU 602). Similarly, horizontally polarized signal 612 may leak intovertically polarized signal 618, and vice versa, even though bothsignals are received at ODU 604. Therefore, ODUs 602 and 604 may eachalso be configured to perform various digital processing techniques tosubstantially cancel out internal cross-polarization leakage.

An Exemplary Direct Conversion ODU Pair for Performing XPIC andUtilizing MIMO

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a pair of ODUs 700 and 702, eachhaving a direct conversion architecture, configured to perform XPIC andto utilize a MIMO arrangement according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure. Specifically, ODUs 700 and 702 may each beconfigured to achieve polarization diversity as well as spatialdiversity. ODUs 700 and 702 may represent exemplary embodiments of ODUs602 and 604 of FIG. 6, respectively. Individually, ODUs 700 and 702 caneach function in a substantially similar manner to the ODU pairconsisting of ODUs 500 and 502, which was discussed above with respectto FIG. 5.

Specifically, ODU 700 includes a modem 704, first and second RFtransmission blocks (Txs) 706 and 708, first and second RF receptionblock (Rxs) 710 and 712, and first and second diplexers 714 and 716.Additionally, modem 704 includes an I/Q interface that is configured toexchange in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components between Txs 706 and708 and Rxs 710 and 712. Further, ODU 700 may be communicatively coupledto first and second antennas 718 and 720.

Similarly, ODU 702 includes a modem 722, first and second RFtransmission blocks (Txs) 724 and 726, first and second RF receptionblock (Rxs) 728 and 730, and first and second diplexers 732 and 734.Additionally, modem 722 includes an I/Q interface that is configured toexchange in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components between Txs 724 and726 and Rxs 728 and 730. Further, ODU 702 may be communicatively coupledto first and second antennas 736 and 738.

In some embodiments, modern 704 may be implemented as a point-to-point(PtP), high-end modem having a networking integrated circuit (IC). Modem704 may also include a first convergence layer 740 and a secondconvergence layer 742. Each convergence layer 740 and 742 may functionin a substantially similar manner was convergence layers 514 and 516 ofFIG. 5. Additionally, convergence layer 740 may be associated with amaster chip 744 and multiple slave chips 746, 748, 750 and 752. Further,convergence layer 740 may also be associated with multiple DACs 754 and756 and multiple ADCs 758, 760 and 762. Similarly, convergence layer 742may be associated with a master chip 764 and multiple slave chips 766,768, 770 and 772, and may also be associated with a DAC 774 and multipleADCs 776 and 778.

Similarly, modem 722 may also be implemented as a point-to-point (PtP)high-end modem having a networking integrated circuit (IC). Modem 722may also include a first convergence layer 780 and a second convergencelayer 782. Each convergence layer 780 and 782 may function in asubstantially similar manner to first and second convergence layers 740and 742 discussed above. Additionally, convergence layer 780 may beassociated with a master chip 784 and multiple slave chips 785, 786, 787and 788. Further, convergence layer 780 may also be associated withmultiple DACs 789 and 790 and multiple ADCs 791, 792 and 793. Similarly,convergence layer 782 may be associated with a master chip 794 andmultiple slave chips 795, 796, 797 and 798, and may also be associatedwith a DAC 799 and multiple ADCs 781 and 783.

During operation, ODU 700 may receive a signal over a wireless link viafirst and second antennas 718 and 720. In some embodiments, the signalreceived by antenna 718 may be a horizontally polarized signal, and thesignal received by antenna 720 may be a vertically polarized signal.Additionally, each of the polarized signals may be an RF signal, and mayeach have a frequency in the range of approximately 6 GHz toapproximately 43 GHz. The horizontally polarized signal received atantenna 718 may be input into diplexer 714, which may then output thehorizontally polarized signal to Rx 710, without causing anyinterference with a transmission signal received at diplexer 714 from Tx706. In particular, diplexer 714 may be configured to allow both Tx 706and Rx 710 to share a common wireless link. Rx 710 may be configured todirectly down-convert the horizontally polarized RF signal to twobaseband signals, I and Q. Although, the disclosure is not limited todirect down-conversion. The horizontally polarized I and Q signals maythen be input to ADC 758, where the I and Q signals are sampled andconverted from the analog domain to the digital domain. Similarly, thevertically polarized signal received at antenna 720 may be input intodiplexer 716, which may then output the vertically polarized signal toRx 712, without causing any interference with a transmission signalreceived at diplexer 716 from Tx 708. In particular, diplexer 716 may beconfigured to allow both Tx 708 and Rx 712 to share a common wirelesslink. Rx 712 may be configured to directly down-convert the verticallypolarized RF signal to two baseband signals, I and Q. Although, thedisclosure is not limited to direct down-conversion. The verticallypolarized I and Q signals may then be input to ADC 776, where the I andQ signals are sampled and converted from the analog domain to thedigital domain.

Modem 704 may be configured to perform various digital processingtechniques on both the horizontally polarized and the verticallypolarized I and Q signals. For example, modem 704 may be configured todigitally filter each of the received I and Q signals, to performadaptive digital pre-distortion techniques, to correct noise and/orerrors in each of the received I and Q signals, or the like.

As discussed above, although ODU 700 may be configured to receive andprocess the horizontally polarized signal independently from thevertically polarized signal, a portion of the vertically polarizedsignal may leak into the actual signal received at antenna 718.Similarly, a portion of the horizontally polarized signal may leak intothe actual signal received at antenna 720. Each of these leakages mayresult in noise and/or errors being injected into the signals receivedat first and second antennas 718 and 720. Accordingly, modem 704 mayalso be configured to share the horizontally polarized signal with thevertically polarized signal, and vice versa. Specifically, modem 704 mayutilize at least a portion of the horizontally polarized signal receivedat antenna 718 to cancel out a portion of the horizontally polarizedsignal that may have leaked into the vertically polarized signalreceived at antenna 720. Similarly, modem 704 may utilize at least aportion of the vertically polarized signal received at antenna 720 tocancel out a portion of the vertically polarized signal that may haveleaked into the horizontally polarized signal received at antenna 718.Modem 704 may be configured to substantially cancel out thecross-polarization leakage by performing various digital processingtechniques. For example, modem 704 may be configured to cancel outcross-polarization leakage by implementing an adaptiveerror-cancellation (AEC) algorithm or by implementing some other digitalsharing technique. For example, the cross-polarization leakage may becanceled by implementing the method discussed in FIGS. 4 and 5, which isnot indicated in FIG. 7 for clarity of illustration.

In some embodiments, modem 704 may output the digitally processed I andQ signals (having substantially eliminated the cross-polarizationleakage that may have been present) to the core network via a switch779. Additionally, or alternatively, modem 704 may output the digitallyprocessed I and Q signals to modem 722, either directly or via afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) 775 and/or a serializer FPGA 777.

ODU 702 may operate in a substantially similar manner to ODU 700.Therefore, during operation, ODU 702 may receive a signal over awireless link via first and second antennas 736 and 738. In someembodiments, the signal received by antenna 736 may be a horizontallypolarized signal, and the signal received by antenna 738 may be avertically polarized signal. Additionally, each of the polarized signalsmay be an RF signal, and may each have a frequency in the range ofapproximately 6 GHz to approximately 43 GHz. The horizontally polarizedsignal received at antenna 736 may be input into diplexer 732, which maythen output the horizontally polarized signal to Rx 728, without causingany interference with a transmission signal received at diplexer 732from Tx 724. In particular, diplexer 732 may be configured to allow bothTx 724 and Rx 728 to share a common wireless link. Rx 728 may beconfigured to directly down-convert the horizontally polarized RF signalto two baseband signals, I and Q. Although, the disclosure is notlimited to direct down-conversion. The horizontally polarized I and Qsignals may then be input to ADC 791, where the I and Q signals aresampled and converted from the analog domain to the digital domain.

Similarly, the vertically polarized signal received at antenna 738 maybe input into diplexer 734, which may then output the verticallypolarized signal to Rx 730, without causing any interference with atransmission signal received at diplexer 734 from Tx 726. In particular,diplexer 734 may be configured to allow both Tx 726 and Rx 730 to sharea common wireless link. Rx 730 may be configured to directlydown-convert the vertically polarized RF signal to two baseband signals,I and Q. Although, the disclosure is not limited to directdown-conversion. The vertically polarized I and Q signals may then beinput to ADC 781, where the I and Q signals are sampled and convertedfrom the analog domain to the digital domain.

Modern 722 may also be configured to perform various digital processingtechniques on both the horizontally polarized and the verticallypolarized I and Q signals. For example, modem 722 may be configured todigitally filter each of the received I and Q signals, to performadaptive digital pre-distortion techniques, to correct noise and/orerrors in each of the received I and Q signals, or the like.

As discussed above, although ODU 702 may be configured to receive andprocess the horizontally polarized signal independently from thevertically polarized signal, a portion of the vertically polarizedsignal may leak into the actual signal received at antenna 736.Similarly, a portion of the horizontally polarized signal may leak intothe actual signal received at antenna 738. Each of these leakages mayresult in noise and/or errors being injected into the signals receivedat first and second antennas 736 and 738. Accordingly, modem 722 mayalso be configured to share the horizontally polarized signal with thevertically polarized signal, and vice versa. Specifically, modem 722 mayutilize at least a portion of the horizontally polarized signal receivedat antenna 736 to cancel out the portion of the horizontally polarizedsignal that may have leaked into the vertically polarized signalreceived at antenna 738. Similarly, modem 722 may utilize at least aportion of the vertically polarized signal received at antenna 738 tocancel out the portion of the vertically polarized signal that may haveleaked into the horizontally polarized signal received at antenna 736.Modem 722 may be configured to substantially cancel out thecross-polarization leakage by performing various digital processingtechniques. For example, modem 722 may be configured to cancel outcross-polarization leakage by implementing an adaptiveerror-cancellation (AEC) algorithm or by implementing some other digitalsharing technique. For example, the cross-polarization leakage may becanceled by implementing the method discussed in FIGS. 4 and 5, which isnot indicated in FIG. 7 for clarity of illustration.

In some embodiments, modern 722 may output the digitally processed I andQ signals (having substantially eliminated the cross-polarizationleakage that may have been present) to ODU 700, either directly or viaserializer FPGA 777.

In addition to the cross-polarization leakage, which may occurinternally within each ODU, leakage may also occur between the ODUs.Specifically, although ODU 700 may be configured to receive and processa horizontally polarized signal at antenna 718 and a verticallypolarized signal at antenna 720, a portion of the vertically polarizedsignal received by ODU 702 at antenna 738 and/or a portion of thehorizontally polarized signal received by ODU 702 at antenna 736 mayleak into the actual signals received by ODU 700. The leakage of thevertically polarized signal received at antenna 738 and/or thehorizontally polarized signal received at antenna 736 may ultimatelyaffect either the horizontally polarized signal received at antenna 718,the vertically polarized signal received at antenna 720, or both ofthese polarized signals received by ODU 700.

Similar to the internal cross-polarization leakage discussed above, theleakage that may occur between the ODUs may also result in noise and/orerrors being injected into the signals received at ODUs 700 and 702.Accordingly, an interconnect 773 is also implemented between ODUs 700and 702 such that both of the polarized signals received at ODU 700 canbe shared with ODU 702, and such that both of the polarized signalsreceived at ODU 702 can be shared with ODU 700. By allowing thesereceived signals to be shared between ODUs 700 and 702, noise and/orerrors that may be present within these signals can be substantiallycanceled out. Interconnect 773 may be implemented using variousdifferent techniques. For example, interconnect 773 can comprise anEthernet cable, a fiber optic cable, a coaxial cable, an intermediatefrequency (IF) cable, a twisted pair cable, a shielded cable, a category5 cable, a category 6 cable, or one or more copper wires.

In some embodiments, interconnect 773 may be configured to allow for thecommunication of IF signals between ODUs 700 and 702. Thus, interconnect773 may include two pairs of IF communication channels 769 and 771. Tofacilitate communication of IF signals between ODUs 700 and 702, modern704 may be configured to up-convert the horizontally polarized I and Qsignals received at ADC 758, as well as the vertically polarized I and Qsignals received at ADC 776, from baseband to IF. In an embodiment, theresulting IF signals produced by modem 504 may each have differentfrequencies, which may be in the range of approximately 140 MHz toapproximately 350 MHz. The two resulting IF signals may represent atleast of portion of the horizontally polarized signal received atantenna 718 and at least a portion of the vertically polarized signalreceived at antenna 720. Following the up-conversion process, each ofthe IF signals may be converted back from the digital domain to theanalog domain by DAC 756. In an embodiment, DAC 756 may be a wide-bandDAC. The two IF signals (e.g. first horizontally polarized IF signal andfirst vertically polarized IF signal) may then be transmitted across IFcommunication channel pair 769 from DAC 756 to ADC 793 where the IFsignals are sampled and converted from the analog domain back to thedigital domain. In an embodiment, ADC 793 may be a wide-band ADC. Modem722 may be configured to utilize the two IF signal received from ODU 700to cancel out the portion of the horizontally polarized signal, or theportion of the vertically polarized signal, that may have leaked intoeither of the polarized signals received at ODU 702. Modem 722 may beconfigured to perform various different error detection and errorcorrection techniques to cancel out the portion of the horizontallypolarized signal, or the portion of the vertically polarized signal,that may have leaked into the polarized signals received at ODU 702. Insome embodiments, modem 722 may be configured to cancel out noise and/orerrors by implementing an adaptive error-cancellation (AEC) algorithm orby implementing various digital filtering techniques, to provide someexamples.

Similarly, a portion of the vertically polarized signal, or a portion ofthe horizontally polarized signal, that may inadvertently leak into thepolarized signals received at ODU 700 may also be canceled out.Specifically, modem 722 may be configured to up-convert the horizontallypolarized I and Q signals received at ADC 791, as well as the verticallypolarized I and Q signals received at ADC 781, from baseband to IF. Inan embodiment, the resulting IF signals produced by modem 722 may eachhave different frequencies, which may be in the range of approximately140 MHz to approximately 350 MHz. The two resulting IF signals mayrepresent at least of portion of the horizontally polarized signalreceived at antenna 736 and at least a portion of the verticallypolarized signal received at antenna 738. Following the up-conversionprocess, each of the IF signals may be converted back from the digitaldomain to the analog domain by DAC 790. In an embodiment, DAC 790 may bea wide-band DAC. The two IF signals (e.g. first horizontally polarizedIF signal and first vertically polarized IF signal) may then betransmitted across IF communication channel pair 771 from DAC 790 to ADC762 where the IF signals are sampled and converted from the analogdomain back to the digital domain. In an embodiment, ADC 762 may be awide-band ADC. Modem 704 may be configured to utilize the two IF signalsreceived from ODU 702 to cancel out the portion of the horizontallypolarized signal, or the portion of the vertically polarized signal,that may have leaked into either of the polarized signals received atODU 700. Similar to modem 722, modem 704 may be configured to performvarious different error detection and error correction techniques tocancel out the portion of the horizontally polarized signal, or theportion of the vertically polarized signal, that may have leaked intoeither of the polarized signals received at ODU 700.

In some embodiments, by implementing interconnect 773 having two pairsof IF communication channels 769 and 771, rather than having fourcommunication channels (requiring eight conductors) for communicating Iand Q components, I/Q mismatches that may have affected other highcapacity microwave backhaul configurations can be substantiallyeliminated. Therefore, implementing interconnect 773 having two pairs ofIF communication channels 769 and 771 can substantially eliminate noisefloors, which may thus allow ODUs 700 and 702 to operate at relativelyhigh quadrature amplitude modulations (QAMs).

Alternatively, interconnect 773 may be implemented having only a singleIF cable, rather two pairs of IF communication channels 769 and 771.Therefore, interconnect 773 may be implemented as a single IF cablehaving the ability to communicate at least four different signals havingfour different frequencies. If interconnect 773 is implemented havingonly a single IF cable, then modems 704 and 722 may also be configuredto filter out and differentiate between the four different IF signalstransmitted between ODUs 700 and 702. For example, modems 704 and 722may each include one or more bandpass filters configured to filter outand differentiate between the IF signals based on the respectivefrequencies. Therefore, because of the reduced amount of wires, andcommunication channels associated with interconnect 773, the relativecosts of implementing and operating interconnect 773 can besubstantially reduced.

An Exemplary Method of Optimizing Communications within a High Capacityall ODU Microwave Backhaul System

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of exemplary operational steps of optimizingcommunications within a high capacity all ODU microwave backhaul system,having a direct conversion architecture, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. The flowchart of FIG. 8 isdescribed with reference to embodiments of FIGS. 1-7. However, a method800 is not limited to these embodiments. The order of the steps inmethod 800 are not meant to be limiting, as at least a portion of thesteps could be performed in a different order, or simultaneously, andstill be within the scope and spirit of the disclosure.

Method 800 beings at step 802 where a determination is made as towhether the microwave backhaul system is configured to have amultiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) arrangement. If the microwavebackhaul system does not have a MIMO arrangement, then the methodproceeds to step 804.

In step 804, a horizontally polarized signal is received at a firstoutdoor unit (ODU), such as ODU 500, to provide an example.

In step 806, a vertically polarized signal is received at a second ODU,such as ODU 502, to provide an example.

In step 808, the horizontally polarized signal is converted (.e.g.down-converted) into a first in-phase (I) component and a firstquadrature (Q) component by a first RF reception block (Rx), such as Rx508, to provide an example. For example, the horizontally polarizedsignal may be down-converted to baseband, resulting in the first I and Qcomponents.

In step 810, the vertically polarized signal is converted (.e.g.down-converted) into a second I component and a second Q component by asecond RF reception block (Rx), such as Rx 542, to provide an example.For example, the vertically polarized signal may be down-converted tobaseband, resulting in the second I and Q components.

In step 812, the first I and Q components are up-converted from basebandinto a horizontally polarized intermediate frequency (IF) signal by afirst modem, such as modem 504, to provide an example.

In step 814, the second I and Q components are up-converted frombaseband into a vertically polarized IF signal by a second modem, suchas modem 538, to provide an example.

In step 816, the horizontally polarized IF signal is shared with thesecond ODU. The horizontally polarized IF signal may be transmitted fromthe first ODU to the second ODU via an IF communication channel includedwithin an interconnect, such as IF communication channel 574 includedwithin interconnect 572, to provide an example.

In step 818, the vertically polarized IF signal is shared with the firstODU. The vertically polarized IF signal may be transmitted from thesecond ODU to the first ODU via a second IF communication channelincluded within the interconnect, such as IF communication channel 576included within interconnect 572, to provide an example.

In step 820, the first modem utilizes the vertically polarized IF signalreceived from the second ODU to substantially cancel out a firstexternal cross-polarization leakage, or at least a portion of the firstexternal cross-polarization leakage. The first externalcross-polarization leakage may be caused by the vertically polarizedreceived signal leaking into the horizontally polarized signal receivedat the first ODU.

In step 820, the second modem utilizes the horizontally polarized IFsignal received from the first ODU to substantially cancel out a secondexternal cross-polarization leakage, or at least the portion of a secondexternal cross-polarization leakage. The second externalcross-polarization leakage may be caused by the horizontally polarizedreceived signal leaking into the vertically polarized signal received atthe second ODU.

Returning to step 802, if the microwave backhaul system does have a MIMOarrangement, then the method proceeds to step 824.

In step 824, a first horizontally polarized signal and a firstvertically polarized signal are received at a first ODU, such as ODU700, to provide an example.

In step 826, a second horizontally polarized signal and a secondvertically polarized signal are received at a second ODU, such as ODU702, to provide an example.

In step 828, the first horizontally polarized signal and the firstvertically polarized signal are converted (.e.g. down-converted) into afirst and second I component and a first and second Q component,respectively, by a first and a second RF reception block (Rx), such asRxs 710 and 712, to provide an example.

In step 830, the second horizontally polarized signal and the secondvertically polarized signal are converted (.e.g. down-converted) into athird and a fourth I component and a third and a fourth Q component,respectively, by a third and a fourth RF reception block (Rx), such asRxs 728 and 730, to provide an example.

In step 832, the first and second I and Q components are up-convertedfrom baseband into a first horizontally polarized IF signal and a firstvertically polarized IF signal, respectively, by a first modem, such asmodem 704, to provide an example.

In step 834, the third and fourth I and Q components are up-convertedfrom baseband into a second horizontally polarized IF signal and asecond vertically polarized IF signal, respectively, by a second modem,such as modem 722, to provide an example.

In step 836, the first horizontally polarized IF signal and the firstvertically polarized IF signal are shared with the second ODU. The firsthorizontally polarized IF signal and the first vertically polarized IFsignal may be transmitted from the first ODU to the second ODU via apair of IF communication channels included within an interconnect, suchas IF communication channel pair 769 included within interconnect 773,to provide an example.

In step 838, the second horizontally polarized IF signal and the secondvertically polarized IF signal are shared with the first ODU. The secondhorizontally polarized IF signal and the second vertically polarized IFsignal may be transmitted from the second ODU to the first ODU via asecond pair of IF communication channels included within aninterconnect, such as IF communication channel pair 771 included withininterconnect 773, to provide an example.

In step 840, the first modem utilizes the second horizontally polarizedIF signal and the second vertically polarized IF signal received fromthe second ODU to substantially cancel out a first externalcross-polarization leakage, or at least a portion of the first externalcross-polarization leakage. The first external cross-polarizationleakage may be caused by the second horizontally polarized receivedsignal and the second vertically polarized received signal leaking intothe first horizontally polarized signal and the first verticallypolarized signal received at the first ODU.

In step 842, the second modem utilizes the first horizontally polarizedIF signal and the first vertically polarized IF signal received from thefirst ODU to substantially cancel out a second externalcross-polarization leakage, or at least a portion of the second externalcross-polarization leakage. The second external cross-polarizationleakage may be caused by the first horizontally polarized receivedsignal and the first vertically polarized received signal leaking intothe second horizontally polarized signal and the second verticallypolarized signal received at the second ODU.

In step 844, the first modem cancels out a first internalcross-polarization leakage between the first horizontally polarizedreceived signal and the first vertically polarized received signal, orat least a portion of the first internal cross-polarization leakage.

In step 846, the second modem cancels out a second internalcross-polarization leakage between the second horizontally polarizedreceived signal and the second vertically polarized received signal, orat least a portion of the second internal cross-polarization leakage.

The disclosure has been described in terms of an all outdoor unitcommunications system, that may be used for example, in point to pointradio or microwave communications. However, this disclosure is notlimited to such and may be used in any communications system that hashorizontal and vertical signal interference, or any other communicationssystem, where one signal interferes with another.

CONCLUSION

The exemplary embodiments described herein are provided for illustrativepurposes, and are not limiting. Other exemplary embodiments arepossible, and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodimentswithin the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the DetailedDescription is not meant to limit the disclosure. Rather, the scope ofthe disclosure is defined only in accordance with the following claimsand their equivalents.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, firmware,software, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of the disclosure mayalso be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium,which may be read and executed by one or more processors. Amachine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputing device). For example, a machine-readable medium may includeread only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic diskstorage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical,optical, acoustical or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrierwaves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), and others. Further,firmware, software, routines, instructions may be described herein asperforming certain actions. However, it should be appreciated that suchdescriptions are merely for convenience and that such actions in factresult from computing devices, processors, controllers, or other devicesexecuting the firmware, software, routines, instructions, etc.

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Abstract section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims.The Abstract section may set forth one or more, but not all exemplaryembodiments, of the disclosure, and thus, are not intended to limit thedisclosure and the appended claims in any way.

The disclosure has been described above with the aid of functionalbuilding blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functionsand relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of thedescription. Alternate boundaries may be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) that variouschanges in form and detail can be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus the disclosure should notbe limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication system for performing crosspolarization interference cancellation (XPIC), comprising: a firstoutdoor unit (ODU) configured to receive a first directionally polarizedsignal; a first radio frequency (RF) module, implemented within thefirst ODU, configured to down-convert the first directionally polarizedsignal into a first in-phase (I) component and a first quadrature (Q)component; a first modem, implemented within the first ODU, configuredto up-convert the first I and Q components from baseband into a firstdirectionally polarized intermediate frequency (IF) signal; and aninterconnect, coupled to the first ODU, configured to communicate asecond directionally polarized IF signal to the first ODU, and whereinthe first modem is further configured to utilize the seconddirectionally polarized IF signal to cancel out at least a portion of afirst cross-polarization leakage at the first ODU.
 2. The communicationsystem of claim 1, wherein the second directionally polarized IF signalis received from a second ODU having a second RF module and a secondmodem.
 3. The communication system of claim 2, wherein the firstcross-polarization leakage is caused by a second directionally polarizedsignal, received at the second ODU, leaking into the first directionallypolarized signal, received at the first ODU.
 4. The communication systemof claim 2, wherein the interconnect is further configured tocommunicate the first directionally polarized IF signal to the secondODU, and wherein the second modem is configured to utilize the firstdirectionally polarized IF signal to cancel out at least a portion of asecond cross-polarization leakage at the second ODU.
 5. Thecommunication system of claim 4, wherein the second cross-polarizationleakage is caused by the first directionally polarized received signalleaking into the second directionally polarized signal received at thesecond ODU.
 6. The communication system of claim 1, wherein theinterconnect includes two IF communication channels.
 7. Thecommunication system of claim 1, wherein the interconnect includes asingle IF communication channel.
 8. The communication system of claim 1,wherein the first directionally polarized IF signal has a firstfrequency, and wherein the second directionally polarized IF signal hasa second frequency that is different from the first frequency.
 9. Thecommunication system of claim 1, wherein the interconnect is furtherconfigured to substantially eliminate I/Q mismatches.
 10. Acommunication system for performing cross polarization interferencecancellation (XPIC) and utilizing a multiple-input and multiple-output(MIMO) arrangement, comprising: a first outdoor unit (ODU) configured toreceive a first horizontally polarized signal and a first verticallypolarized signal; a first radio frequency (RF) module, implementedwithin the first ODU, configured to down-convert the first horizontallypolarized signal into a first in-phase (I) component and a firstquadrature (Q) component; a second RF module, implemented within thefirst ODU, configured to down-convert the first vertically polarizedsignal into a second I component and a second Q component; a firstmodem, implemented within the first ODU, configured to up-convert thefirst I and Q components from baseband into a first horizontallypolarized intermediate frequency (IF) signal and to up-convert thesecond I and Q components from baseband into a first verticallypolarized IF signal; and an interconnect, coupled to the first ODU,configured to communicate a second horizontally polarized IF signal anda second vertically polarized IF signal to the first ODU, and whereinthe first modem is further configured to utilize the second horizontallypolarized IF signal and the second vertically polarized IF signal tocancel out at least a portion of a first cross-polarization leakage atthe first ODU.
 11. The communication system of claim 10, wherein thesecond horizontally polarized IF signal and the second verticallypolarized IF signal are received from a second ODU having a third andfourth RF module and a second modem.
 12. The communication system ofclaim 11, wherein the interconnect is further configured to communicatethe first horizontally polarized IF signal and the first verticallypolarized IF signal to the second ODU, and wherein the second modem isfurther configured to utilize the first horizontally polarized IF signaland the first vertically polarized IF signal to cancel out at least aportion of a second cross-polarization leakage at the second ODU. 13.The communication system of claim 10, wherein the first modem is furtherconfigured to cancel out at least a portion of an first internalcross-polarization leakage between the first horizontally polarizedreceived signal and the first vertically polarized received signal. 14.The communication system of claim 12, wherein the firstcross-polarization leakage is caused by a second horizontally polarizedsignal and a second vertically polarized signal, both received at thesecond ODU, leaking into the first horizontally polarized signal and thefirst vertically polarized signal, received at the first ODU.
 15. Thecommunication system of claim 14, wherein the second modem is furtherconfigured to cancel out at least a portion of a second internalcross-polarization leakage between the second horizontally polarizedsignal and the second vertically polarized signal.
 16. The communicationsystem of claim 14, wherein the second cross-polarization leakage iscaused by the first horizontally polarized received signal and the firstvertically polarized received signal leaking into the secondhorizontally polarized signal and the second vertically polarized signalreceived at the second ODU.
 17. The communication system of claim 10,wherein the interconnect includes four IF communication channels.
 18. Amethod of reducing interference in a communication system, comprising:receiving a first directionally polarized signal at a first outdoor unit(ODU); down-converting the first directionally polarized signal tobaseband, resulting in a first in-phase (I) component and a firstquadrature (Q) component; up-converting the first I and Q componentsfrom baseband into a first directionally polarized intermediatefrequency (IF) signal; receiving a second directionally polarized IFsignal at the first ODU via an interconnect; and utilizing the seconddirectionally polarized IF signal to cancel out at least a portion of afirst cross-polarization leakage at the first ODU.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, further comprising: receiving a second directionally polarizedsignal at a second ODU; down-converting the second directionallypolarized signal to baseband, resulting in a second I component and asecond Q component; up-converting the second I and Q components frombaseband into the second directionally polarized IF signal; andutilizing the first directionally polarized IF signal to cancel out atleast a portion of a second cross-polarization leakage at the secondODU.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: receiving a thirddirectionally polarized signal at the first ODU; receiving a fourthdirectionally polarized signal at the second ODU; canceling at least aportion of a first internal cross-polarization leakage between the firstdirectionally polarized signal received at the first ODU and the thirddirectionally polarized signal received at the first ODU; and cancelingat least a portion of a second internal cross-polarization leakagebetween the second directionally signal received at the second ODU andthe fourth directionally polarized signal received at the second ODU.